Read Online Escape from Harrizel by C.G. Coppola - Free Book Online

Giant
buckets sit between each person, a dispenser for all the gibb
collected. “Just find whatever bucket’s available, fill it and
bring it to the Steamers. Keep going until dismissal.”
    Just leave so I can make another run for
it.
    “We good?”
    I nod again, avoiding his eye.
    “Seriously,” he leans in, “don’t even think
about it. There’s no point in getting yourself killed.” His golden
eyes shift between mine before he heads back for the Gollops and
toward the middle of the lot.
    I can still do it. At the end of this, when
everyone’s heading back inside, I can flee. It won’t be as great a
distraction as the fight was, but it’s something . I climb
down an unsteady ladder propped against the trench wall. Once I’m
in, and the blue reaches above my head by a few feet, I look
around.
    I’m surrounded by two endless rows of people
clawing at the powder blue substance on either side of the trough.
A narrow space separates the lines but large metal buckets sit
between each person, filled with the collected gibb. Everyone’s
shoulder to shoulder so I walk for a minute, finally spotting a few
empty buckets up on the right.
    Just a little while longer and you’ll be out
of here.
    With another deep inhale I start clawing
into the blue wall just like everyone else. I’m not really
working—just biding my time. Waiting it out. Trying to decide the
best course of action when the next opportunity arrives. I’ll have
to move further down the trench, getting myself as close to the
gate as possible. I’ll pretend to leave with everyone else, and
then stay in here until they’ve all gone inside. I peek up, finding
the point in the curving trough that’s the shortest distance from
the gate.
    “Keep your head down.”
    It’s a whisper from my left. I didn’t even
notice someone start working next to me but she’s here—a beautiful
Indian girl with luscious dark features. She’s focused on digging
and for a second, I wonder if I imagined it.
    “Why?” I ask.
    “Sshh… quiet.”
    “You’re serious about that no socializing
thing?”
    “Not us,” she flashes me a look,
“ them . They don’t want us talking.”
    “Why?” I glance back toward the Castle,
searching for Jeb but he’s not there. I look back to the gate,
searching for the guards—Yerza and Norpe—but find it abandoned like
earlier. It’s like we’re out here alone.
    “What’re you thinking?” she whispers,
risking another glance to me. “Didn’t Walker tell you? It’s
suicide.”
    Think, girl, think. I might not be down here
again. I might not get another chance.
    “What will happen?” I ask.
    “You’ll be marked.”
    “As?”
    “A run away,” her voice is so soft, so quiet
it could break, “and they’ll take you.”
    I feel the blood drain from my face. “Take
me where?”
    She shrugs, “but you won’t come back.”
    Chills race up my spine, freezing me as I
quickly recalculate. We need to revolt. Revolt or escape. And right
now, there doesn’t seem to be a plan in gear for the first. None
that I’m aware of at least. So it’s back to the original
plan—escape. Even if it’s not right now.
    “And we work out here all day?” I whisper.
“Every day?”
    She nods, focused on the wall.
    “Just digging?”
    “Sshh… we really can’t talk,” she gestures
me to keep clawing the gibb. A moment goes by. “I’m Raj by the
way.”
    I want to give her my name but Fallon still
seems foreign. It’s familiar, but not right, like it’s missing
something. Something essential.
    “You’re Fallon, right?” she keeps her voice
quiet.
    I snap toward her. “How do you know?”
    “Everyone knows.”
    “What?”
    “Later…” she motions to the wall again,
“after Rebuilding.”
    That would mean I’d have to forgo my escape
plan. But we’re out here every day. I could do it tomorrow. I could
flee tomorrow if it meant just one more day here. And if anything,
I could learn the schedules better. Find out how